Fire-door.



W. B. GERVAES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6. 19l2.

Patented May 1, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- W. B. GERVAIS,

FIRE DOOR.

APPLICATION mu) DEC.6.1912.

3 SHETSSHEET 2.

I Jr3 W. B. GEHVMS.

Y FIRE DOOR.

APPLX'CATIQN men Me; 6, 2912.

1,224,295, Patented May 1, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

main s rarn 1 WAINWRIGHT B. GERVAIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO VARIETY MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FIRE-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented May 1, 1917.

by means of which an opening, such for example, a door openlng or window openingin a building may be properly protecte in case too high a degree of temperature has been reached owing to the proximity of a The arrangement which forms the subject matter of my invention comprises a flexible fire door which has an arm extending therefrom, which arm is adapted to be engaged by a suitable weight operating in a vertical tube or guideway, this weight being con- .nected'in its normal position to a trigger to which is fastened a wire and which wire is connected with suitable fuses which are adapted to be melted after a predetermined degree of temperature has been reached. The melting of these fuses releases the weight so that it engages the arm on the fire door and forces this door down into its closed position and against the tensionof a spring.

,In another arrangement of my invention, I provide two weights operating in vertical guide-ways, and which are employed tolower the door when the fuses are melted.

My invention will be clearly understood by referring to theaccompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in cross section and illustrating a fire 'door in its up position.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, some of the parts being broken away so as to more clearly show the construction.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view showing an arrangement wherein two weights are em ployed to lower the door.

The drawings show a wall 4 of a building which has an opening 5 therein which is adapted to be closed by means of aflexible fire door 6. This fire door is adapted to be guided by means of suitable structural shapes 7, 7, suitably secured at each side of the openlng 5. These structural shapes form grooves 8, 8, so as to accommodate the sides of the door 6 as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The bottom of the door is arranged with suitable handles 9, 9, which may be either riveted or bolted to the door, as desired. The other end of the door is secured to a drum 10, as shown in Fig. 1. This drum is bolted or suitably fastened to a sleeve 11 loosely mounted on a shaft 12, which is supported by means of bearings 13 and 1 1. The drum is supported on this shaft at the other end by means of a sleeve 15 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 12.

Inside of the bearing 15 and keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 12 there is disposed a sleeve 16 to which one end of a spring 17 is suitably fastened, this spring being held in place at the other end in the sleeve 11.

Outside of the bearing 13 there is arranged a disk 18 which has a plurality of holes 19 therein which are adapted to be engaged by a pin 20'which has been inserted through a lug 21 extending from the bearing 13. This disk 18 is securely mounted on the shaft and is arranged to be rotated so as to give the spring 17 the desired amount of initial tension.

Near the bottom of the door there is secured an arm 22 which extends outside of the structural shapes and into a slot 23 in a vertical guiding member 24. This arm is held a 'ainst a stop 25 secured to the structural s apes 7 and it is held against this stop by means of the spring 17. On the other side the stop 26 is provided which engages one of the L shaped members 27 secured at the bottom of the door. It will thus be seen that the door is provided at each side with stops limiting its upward movement. The guide 24 as shown in the drawings is cylindrical in shape and is held in position by means of the straps 27, 27, which are secured to the wall of the building. it the upper end of this guide I have arranged an L-shaped trigger 28 which is pivoted to a support 29 extending from the guide 2 1. The end 30, of this trigger engages 1n the hook memberig? 31 which is suitably secured to a weight 321' This weight 32 may be built up of a plurality of sections if desired. The trigger 28 has secured thereto a wire or cable 33 which leads through an eye 31 in an arm 35 extend-' ing from the support 1 1. This wire is brought down and is passed through an. opening in the arm 36 which may be secured to the structural shapes.

The wire also is supported at the other side of the door from an arm 37 which may extend from the structural shapes on that particular side and from there the wire is brought up and attached to the ceiling 38 as shown. This wire is provided with two fusible links the link 38 being provided near the ceiling and the link 39 being disposed near the opening 5.

When a pre-determined degree of temperature has been reached either one of these fusible links is melted and upon such action taking place the trigger 28 will be rotated owing to the weight 32 so that the weight will fall downward in the guide 2% and strike the arm 22 so that this weight in its downward course forces the door into its closed or down position.

The door is unrolled from the drum 10 and such action has the effect of gradually increasing the tension of the spring 17 so that when the door reaches its down or closed position it will not strike violently against the floor, but will have its movement in the down. direction gradually lessened in speed. In other words, the door commences to close very rapidly, and as it nears the floor the tension of the spring will be such as to almost balance the weight 32.

This particular adjustment of the parts can be easily arranged by the disk 18, which has been previously described. The fusible link 38 is provided near the ceiling so that when the heat is greatest at that particular portion of the building the door will be automatically closed or if the heat is greatest near the opening the fusible link 39 will be melted and the door will be automatically closed.

NVhen the door is in its down position and it is desired to raise it the handles may be grasped and the door lifted and the weight 32 will be carried upward owing to the engagement thereof with the arm 22 and after the door has reached the limit of its upward movement the hook 31 on the weight may be engaged by any suitable tool and it may be lifted so that the arm 30 of the trigger engages in the hook, after which the wire 33 ay be secured in place to the ceiling. The oor will then be 111 a posit on to be again eleased when a predetermlned degree of 3 temperature has been reached for which condition it will be automatically closed.

Referring now to Fig. 4, it may be stated that I have employed similar letters of reference to the parts which correspond with those in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive. This view illustrates two guide-ways 24 and 24*, which are provided with slots 23 and 23*, into which the arms 22 and 22 secured to door, pass.

The arrangement for maintaining the door in an up position is of the same construction as shown in Fig. l, and it is'deemed unnecessary to go into a detail description of that mechanism in this connection.

The wire 33, passes through an arm 36, and is arranged with a fuse 36 this wire also passes through the extension 37, as shown and through the eye in the lug 21 and is attached to the trigger 28?.

When the fuse 36 is melted, the triggers 28 and 28 are rotated and the weights 32 and 32" are released from their supported position so that they strike the extensions 22 and 22, thereby lowering the flexible door 6. The weight 32 has extending therefrom a suitable hook member 31 for engagement with the trigger 28*, as shown in the drawing.

The door is held in its raised position by 'means of the spring mechanism heretofore described so that the arms 22 and 22 with the stops 25 and 26*.

It will be noted that the guide-way 24 is engage held in position by means of suitable straps 27 which extend from the building.

It will be observed that the arrangement of Fig. 4 is similar to the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, except that the additional weight 32 is provided, which operates in a suitable guide-way and which is adapted to be released simultaneously with the weight 32 when the fuse 36 is melted in order to close the door 6.

The arrangement just described provides the shutter and having a slot therein, an arm carried by the lower end of the shutter and projecting into the guideway through the In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe slot, a Weight disposed Wholly Within the my name this 30th day of November, A. D. guideway, a trigger above the upper end of 1912.

the guideway to suspend said Weight above WAIN'WRIGHT B. GERVAIS. the arm, and a fusible cable connected to Witnesses:

said trigger to restrain the same until a pre- MILLARD GILMORE,

determined temperature is reached. HERVEY ROY DAILEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

